Wind-plus-Storage Is Taking Shape in Australia

As Australia begins to expand its plans for more wind farms backed up by batteries, Singapore-based Nexif Energy has broken ground on a 212-MW wind farm in South Australia that will include fast-response storage capacity.

Nexif said that it will commission the Lincoln Gap wind farm later this year. The project has 59 wind turbines and a 10-MW/approximately 10 MWh battery to help integrate renewables into Australia’s National Electricity Market. The final capacity of the battery is still being determined, according to a Nexif spokesperson.

“Nexif Energy is committed to building something which will make a significant contribution to the renewable energy target while helping grid stability and reliability in South Australia, and we anticipate the wind farm will operate for 25-plus years, providing green, clean energy for the state,” Matthew Bartley, founder and co-CEO of Nexif Energy, said in a statement.

Australia has seen an increase recently in storage projects paired with wind energy. At the end of last year, Tesla began operations of the Hornsdale Power Reserve battery project at the Hornsdale wind farm in South Australia. And at the beginning of January, the government of Victoria said it secured an agreement for the development of a wind plus storage facility for a crop farm in Western Victoria.